


Walz of the Flowers

by Windian



Category: Oniisama E
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 02:32:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13044666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windian/pseuds/Windian
Summary: When Nanako is locked in the Sorority storage room on the day of the Gakuin University Fair, it's not Kaoru that finds her, but Rei.





	Walz of the Flowers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [psiten](https://archiveofourown.org/users/psiten/gifts).



> This is a yuletide gift for psiten! 
> 
> As a huge Oniisama E fan I was thrilled to get this assignment. I adore Rei and Nanako and their relationship, tragedy and all. I hope this little fic is to your taste, and enjoy the holidays!

Love was a curse.

Love bound in tight chains that drew red welts across Rei's skin. Love was a noose around her neck, one for Fukiko to tug and pull at as she pleased.

“I love you,” Nanako had said, and Rei's heart had sank. Nanako was good and pure, sweet and earnest. A dear little doll, untouched by life's cruelty. If Rei touched her, she would only sully Nanako, as sure as if she trekked sooty feet across a white carpet.

Her own fond feelings were irrelevant.

 _I'll keep my distance from her. The trip to the park was a mistake._ Distancing herself from other people was easy-- she'd done it for years. Solitude meant loneliness, but loneliness was an old acquaintance. It ached, but it was the familiar throb of an old wound, rather than the sharp hurt of passion, fresh and brilliant as blood dappling the snow.

 

On the day of the Gakuin University Fair, Rei came to Seiran. It was a Sunday, a pleasant and peaceful Sunday, perfect to lounge about in the sun.

“Funny how you'll come to school on a Sunday, but not a regular schoolday,” Kaoru said. Rei opened her eyes to find her friend doing warm-up stretches against the side of the bench, part of her daily jog.

Rei smiled. The sun felt good against her face. “Must be deja vu-- I'm sure I saw you not twenty minutes ago.”

“ _You_ ought to try doing some exercise too, Rei. It might do you good, rather than sitting around all day like a lizard in the sun.” It was old, familiar banter. Rei lit up a cigarette.

“Pass,” she said

“I guess I should just be pleased you left your room today,” Kaoru said.

“What's wrong with my room?”

Rei could see her friend moving it around in her mouth: the old entreaties to turn on her heating, to stock her fridge better, to at the very _least_ , change the lightbulb that had been broken for months.

But the sun was shining, the shadows hadn't grown long yet. And nagging one another about their respective problems never yielded any fruit except resentment.

So Kaoru swallowed it. “It doesn’t matter, I guess.”

Kaoru stretched her calves against the bench. Rei took a drag.

“It's not too late to make it to the university fair, you know.” Rei kept her voice light: a gentle offer.

“Pass,” echoed Kaoru. Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

“You heartbreaker. Mariko Shinobu must be disappointed. She's taken a real liking to you, hasn't she?”

“Hm. Has she?” said Kaoru.

“Ah, I see how it is. The illustrious Kaoru-no-kimi has so many fans she can't keep track of them all...”

Kaoru laughed. Genuinely, this time. “Honestly. I don't know where they come up with these nicknames.”

“Me either.”

“You're certainly one to talk though, _St Just_. I believe you turned down Nanako too. And I thought she was your new hooky partner.”

“Ah. You heard about that?”

“Let's just hope your bad habits don't rub off on her. She's a sweet girl,” Kaoru said.

Rei exhaled a ring of ash. Nanako had reached for her cigarette. _Let me try._ She'd never seen the girl so insistent-- it was charming.

Rei's smile faded. “Don't worry. It won't happen again.”

She felt Kaoru searching her face for-- something.

“I guess her habits rubbing off on _you_ might be too much to hope for.”

“I wouldn't hold your breath.”

“Consider it unheld,” said Kaoru. “Though if you change your mind, I saw her heading towards the Sorority House earlier. I guess she has some business there.”

“Thanks, but this nap isn't going to take itself,” Rei said.

“Suit yourself. See you in another twenty minutes?”

“If you like.”

The sun had moved round into Rei's eyes. She dropped your book onto her face, the lines of text melding into one. She heard the scuff of Kaoru's shoes against the flagstones as she jogged off.

It would probably be better for everyone if she stayed away from Nanako Misonoo.

Maybe she'd just say hello to her on her way out. She'd need to pass this way anyway, if she was heading to the bus stop at the front gate.

On Kaoru's fifth lap, the thought occurred that Nanako probably _should_ have come past by now.

“Funny way to read a book,” Kaoru called.

Rei waved her away.

All the same, she lifted it from her eyes. Squinted into the bright sunshine. And then she set her book under her arm and headed toward the Sorority House.

It wouldn't be the first time she'd sculked around this building.

As she approached, she heard music. Not a live instrument-- the slight tinny sound of a old turntable. Strauss's _Künstlerleben op. 316._ Peering into the rooms gave no luck: the sound seemed to be coming from the basement.

At last she found the source: the music spilling from a small skylight built into the side of the Sorority House's storage room. Light shafted down into a thin rectangle, illuminated the spot where below, in the dark crowded storage room, Nanako was dancing.

Whimsical and entirely charming, to see her performing her own private walz in the dark, arms around an entirely invisible partner. When the song swooned to a close and Nanako came to a standstill, opening her eyes, it was to find Rei, applauding.

“Bravo! Bravo!”

“St Just!”

The needle on the turntable skipped; Nanako flustered. Rei raised a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter.

“Is this a private dance party?” Rei called down.

“St Just, please, I'm trapped down here!”

Rei laughed. “That's a good one--”

“St Just, I'm not kidding around!”

Oh.

Rei picked up the storage room key with the groundsman. “Do you know if anyone else has taken this out today?” she asked casually, as he handed over the sign out sheet.

“Everyone signs the sheet,” he said.

There was only one name on the list: Nanako Misonoo.

“Is there a spare key?”

“There is, but only Miss Ichonimya has access to it.”

“I see,” she said, thinking surely, _surely not_ \--

When she finally freed Nanako, the freshman's cheeks were still stained pink.

“I was trapped here for hours... I got a little bored,” she explained, threading her fingers together.

“Your friend told me you were supposed to be at the university fair today.”

“Yes, I was.” Nanako's eyes fell. “And it's too late, now. The fair will be over in a few hours.”

“What happened?” asked Rei.

“Miya-sama called me... she invited me to a tea ceremony this morning. And she asked me to fetch a tea set from the storage room. I thought I would have time, but... the door blew shut behind me. And I left the key outside. The mechanism must have jammed, I suppose....”

Rei gritted her teeth so hard her jaw _ached_.

Her sister had locked Rei in a building once. She'd tricked her into standing out in the rain. She'd knocked a vase on her foot. Afterwards, she'd apologised, told Rei she'd only done these things to test her loyalty, her love. Fukiko had kissed her-- told her that she never truly meant to hurt her. Rei had forgiven her. She'd had no choice but to forgive her.

But why would she test Nanako?

She had to be mistaken.

Nanako sank down on an empty barrel, staring at her shoes. “Mariko and Tomoko must have thought I’d forgotten about them. How awful.”

It pulled her out of her own misery. Nanako looked utterly dejected, her whole body slumped. She must have spent the better part of the day in this dingy basement. Rei thought again about the day they'd spent at the park, Nanako a comforting, easy presence by her side.

Rei picked up the small pile of vinyls by the turntable, leafed through them. Silently, she selected one-- Tchaikovsky's _Waltz of the Flowers_ \-- and put the needle down. The melody filled the old storage room.

“St Just?”

“You originally invited me to the fair, didn't you? I thought we could spend the afternoon together.”

Nanako's mouth hung open like a fish. “Really?”

“When have you ever known me to joke? -- actually, don't answer that.”

Nanako covered her laugher with her hand. “St Just...”

Rei extended her hand. “Dance with me?”

Nanako hesitated for just a moment, and took it.

Rei put a hand on Nanako's waist and began to lead, starting off a slow pace. Nanako's lips were slightly parted, her eyes bright, blown wide.

From above, Nanako had looked like a ballerina in a box, turning by herself to a melody. But her hand was soft and warm. It was true that Nanako resembled the doll Fukiko had given her as a child-- but perhaps the resemblance ended there. Her sincerity-- a _painful_ sincerity-- was a knife that had cut through the old lies Rei wrapped herself about with. Her kindness had cut deeper than a blade; it left Rei exposed.

As Nanako became more comfortable with the steps, her mouth began to turn up. Rei spun her round; Nanako beamed.

“There. I knew it: a smile suits you better.”

Nanako's face flushed pink. She mumbled a reply at her shoes.

“I... didn't know you danced, St Just," she said.

“I don't often, anymore.”

Rei's sister had, years ago, taught her. So Rei wouldn't embarrass the family. Fukiko had led, her hand on Rei's waist like a vice grip. Rei had wanted her to hold her tighter, and yet--

The needle skipped on the record player. The song had ended, yet for a few moments more Rei and Nanako stood together. As it was that day in the park, comfortable and easy. A cloud passed over the sun, and the thin shaft of light through the skylight dimmed. In the darkness, Rei found herself looking at the whites of Nanako's eyes. She made a startling discovery: that she didn't want to let go.

Eventually, of course, the clouds passed. The moment came unstuck, and Rei released Nanako's hand.

She thought again about what Kaoru had said: that maybe Nanako would rub off on her. Maybe, that wouldn't be such a bad thing.

 

 

 


End file.
